Hi,
This is a question about suggestions for a cheaper TIG welder setup that would be exclusively used to ball the ends of wire.
I am a student at Pratt Institute going into my Thesis year. I am not sure how much studio access I will have with the continuing pandemic, and so I’d like to be proactive with the techniques I chose. Rather than illegally having a torch in my apartment, I’d like to use a system of bolting to create 3d forms. I will would like to be able to ball gold and silver wire near anodized aluminum and titanium, and I can’t use heat to do that. I’ve used Pratt’s TIG welder to do this before, but can’t afford something that expensive myself. Does anyone have experience with something like this? I have seen things like the pulse sparkle spot welder, would that work? Will I need something with argon gas to prevent the area from oxidizing? Ideally balling the wire would be the very last step. I’d like to spend max a thousand (with the idea of reselling afterwards). I also saw the orion m pulse which is more than I’d like to spend but if anyone has any experience with it or any leads on a used one I’d love to hear about it! I’d appreciate any suggestions you all have!